Incontinence is a condition characterised by the uncontrolled release of bodily discharges from the bladder and/or bowel. Urinary incontinence refers to loss of bladder control resulting in involuntary or uncontrolled urination. Urinary incontinence is a condition that is particularly prevalent among infants as well as in the elderly and infirm and, at least in relation to adult sufferers, is more prevalent among women.
Incontinence is managed in care institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, aged care facilities and the like by the use of absorbent articles, such as pads, diapers and the like that are worn by subjects. Periodic and manual checking is required to determine whether it is the correct time to change an absorbent article worn by a subject.
Incontinence indicators and detection systems including sensors contained in absorbent articles exist. Such systems can include sensors that are adapted for electrical connection to an electronic device, such as a transceiver, which sends a signal to a processing device when an incontinence event is occurring or has occurred in the absorbent article. The system is configured to measure an electrical variable, such as resistance, of a wetness sensor in the absorbent article and to determine whether an incontinence event has occurred and other characteristics of incontinence events which are occurring or have occurred. Such systems may be adapted to alert a carer to the occurrence of an incontinence event so that the carer may check the article and, if necessary, change the article.
Existing absorbent articles with incontinence sensors can only detect the occurrence of one wetness event in an absorbent article and cannot fully and efficiently utilize the available capacity of an absorbent article. For example, in existing arrangements absorbent articles may be changed upon the detection of a wetness event of, say, 200 mL which is a waste of resources if the absorbent article is designed to hold up to 600 mL of liquid.
Existing procedures for checking the wetness status of an absorbent article, that is the extent to which the capacity of the absorbent article has been reached, requires manually checking a wetness indicator which is normally located on the outer side of the absorbent article backsheet. A manual check is intrusive to the wearer, labour intensive, not a very accurate in representing the volume of liquid in the absorbent article, sensitive to the wearer's movement, pressure applied on the absorbent article, orientation of the wearer and the like, and not in real-time which may lead to a wearer having a soaked absorbent article on up until being manually checked.
The present invention aims to improve on methods and systems for incontinence monitoring.
The above discussion of background art is included to explain the context of the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any of the documents or other material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge in the patent area at the priority date of any one of the claims of this specification.